Pole vaulters headline upcoming Mobile, Ala., meet

The pole-vault record at the 19th annual Mobile Challenge of Champions Invitational on Saturday at St. Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile would appear to be in jeopardy.

With Dalton Duvio of Curtis and Nikita Kirillov of Metro Atlanta's St. Pius X entered, the meet has two vaulters who have cleared 17 feet, plus LSU signee Andreas Duplantis of Lafayette High.

Duvio won the Allstate Sugar Bowl Track and Field Championships last Saturday with a meet record of 17-1. A week earlier, Kirillov soared to 17-2, setting a meet record in winning the Georgia Intercollegiate Invitational on March 19 at Georgia Tech.

Duplantis, the Class 5A state champion a year ago, enters with a personal best of 16-10 set at the Lafayette Oil City Relays on March 18. Also entered is Cameron Meyer, a 16-foot vaulter from Hamilton Christian in Lake Charles.

They are taking aim at the MCC record of 16-6 set by Jordan Scott of Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Ga., in 2006.

Duvio, competing at the Sugar Bowl meet with a sprained right ankle, faced elimination on his opening height before clearing 14 feet on his third attempt. The Curtis senior then cleared three more heights on elimination attempts measuring 15-6, 16-6 and 17-1.

Duvio sprained the ankle two days before the competition when he slipped and fell at his Kenner home. He cleared 17-1 using a pole rated for 15 feet, rather than the customary 15-7 length used in vault attempts of 17-feet plus. The 15-foot pole was the longest he owned.

Duvio has not practiced this week and isn't expected to do so as he allows the ankle to strengthen.

"(The ankle) feels a lot better, but I think I'm going to rest it some more,'' Duvio said Wednesday. "I don't think it's going to affect me too bad. I think it will actually help me because the ankle will be rested.''

DECISIONS MADE: Belle Chasse and Lutcher will conclude their suspended baseball game from Tuesday night at 3:30 p.m. today at Lutcher and then play their second regularly scheduled District 8-4A game immediately after. Lutcher (9-9, 2-0) led 8-6 with Belle Chasse (12-4, 2-0) batting and no outs in the bottom of the eighth. ... Shaw Coach Doug Faust will try for his 300th career win at 6 p.m. tonight against Brother Martin at UNO. The two District 10-5A teams were scheduled to play Tuesday night, but the game was postponed. Brother Martin (12-5, 2-0) leads Shaw (13-5, 2-1) and Jesuit (13-5, 2-1) by one-half game.

THREE FOR THE ROAD: Jesuit offensive tackle Matthew Andry, West Jefferson wide receiver Redd Hartman and Higgins wide receiver Nathaniel Parker have signed college football scholarships. Andry has chosen Gannon, a Division II Catholic school in Erie, Pa. Hartman has signed with Howard, and Parker has chosen Kentucky Wesleyan College, a Division II school located in Owensboro, Ky.